Jordanians protest proposed US troop deployment

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — About 300 Jordanians have demonstrated against the proposed deployment of 200 U.S. troops on their nation's border with Syria.

Some protesters warned that the small force could be just the beginning of a process that leads to U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war to secure its chemical weapons. Other demonstrators, backing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, burned American flags.

At the Friday rally in Amman, leftists and independents chanted, "No to U.S. troops in Jordan. This is not in our national interest." They said they do not want to see a U.S.-led invasion of Syria like the 2003 war in neighboring Iraq, based on faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction there.

Jordan has sent reinforcements to the border to guard against the fighting spilling across.